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Mango Expands Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 International Reach

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Windows Phone 7’s Mango software update will help Microsoft expand its reach and target more markets internationally, adding more language support, additional localized keyboards, and also bring its Windows Phone Marketplace app store to more countries.

When Windows Phone 7 was launched, Microsoft announced support for 5 languages–English (U.S. and UK), French, German, Spanish, and Italian. With Mango, 17 additional languages will be supported, including: Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Swedish. In addition to Windows Phone 7 handsets being able to support these languages, the Zune software, part of the desktop synchronization software component, will also be updated to support these additional languages.

While these languages are supported by Microsoft, the company says that manufacturers and carriers can choose to load various languages onto phones. For example, an HTC phone sold in the U.S. may not have Chinese language support.

In addition to language support, 20 new keyboards are also available as well as four new fonts.

Also, starting this fall, Windows Phone Marketplace will be available in 35 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States.

There will also be specific, localized features for select apps and programs for Windows Phone 7, including search, maps, and voice:

  • Bing search (accessed from the phone’s hardware Search button) is available in 33 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and the United States. (Elsewhere, handset and mobile operators can configure the hardware search button to a locally-relevant search site).
  • Local search results show up in 6 countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States.
  • Maps is supported in 19 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
  • Voice-to-text and Voice-to-dial is available in 6 countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and the Unites States.
  • Voice search is supported in 4 countries: France, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Via: Windows Team Blog

 

 

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Willem Evenhuis

    07/07/2011 at 12:55 pm

    Meh….almost there with international support. Without voice search, bing search is only half as useful in the international market. Where do I sign up if microsoft needs help with voice samples? It would also be nice to have voice to test in other languages.

  2. Anonymous

    07/10/2011 at 11:19 am

    I can’t wait for Mango on my Windows Phone!

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